


Sibling Rivalry

by boredom



Series: BWNSG [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Light Angst, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 12:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16810297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredom/pseuds/boredom
Summary: Ulaz stumbles onto a truly horrifying scene between Keith and Shiro. He is even more horrified when Lance and Thace tell him it's perfectly natural.





	Sibling Rivalry

It was a nice and quiet day onboard the Castle of Lions. Zarkon wasn’t attacking. Haggar wasn’t attacking. No one was attacking which meant a lot of free time was awarded to the castle’s inhabitants once Thace was done training them. 

Ulaz was wandering around, a bit aimlessly through with the the intention of learning the various twists and turns a bit better. The castle was huge, with long winding hallways and floors upon floors that seemed to never end. He was somewhere down in some maintenance level when he heard the voices of Shiro and Keith. 

He furrowed his brow. What could the two boys possibly be doing down here? As he walked closer, he realized that they were arguing with each other. He couldn’t quite make out what they were arguing about, but they both sounded mad. Ulaz decided that he should go and help mediate things between the two. He didn’t want anyone on this ship to stay mad at each other for very long, especially since they couldn’t leave and there weren’t many people to act as buffers until some of the more volatile emotions faded. 

He rounded the corner and felt his heart drop from his chest. Shiro was dangling Keith off the floor, one hand clamped around the boy’s ankle as he struggled and swiped at Shiro, though no punches or hits seemed to phase the man. What worried Ulaz even more was the long shaft that Shiro was near. If he dropped Keith down that, he would die. 

Shiro moved his arm, putting Keith closer to the shaft and Ulaz sprang into action. This had to be another clone. Thace assured them that the Shiro they had captured and tore the arm off was the clone, as the real Shiro had been imprisoned with them. However, there were many ways Haggar could trick people into believing a certain reality and it seemed that she had once again sunk her claws into Voltron. She had either planted another clone or had messed with Shiro’s mind and now Keith was going to die. 

Shiro and Keith both looked at Ulaz, Shiro’s mouth opening in what was probably surprise (or protest), but he gave him no room to argue, driving his elbow into the man’s stomach and catching Keith before he could be dropped down the shaft. He sprang back, Keith clutched tightly in his arms and the clone doubled over, coughing. 

“Ulaz, what-”

“It’s okay, Keith, I’ll neutralize him.” 

Before Keith could argue with him, the rest of Voltron, including Thace, burst into the room. 

“What’s going on?” Lance said, bayard out and ready to fight. 

“We saw you fighting on the monitor,” Allura said, rushing to help Shiro up.

“Don’t!” Ulaz shouted. He wasn’t neutralized yet and could do a lot of damage to the princess. “Haggar’s got into his mind!” 

Everyone looked at him. 

“What?” Hunk asked. 

“Haggar hasn’t gotten into my mind. She’s probably gotten into your mind. What the f…” He looked at Keith, scowled and turned back to Ulaz. “What the heck, Ulaz? Why would you think Haggar was in my mind?” 

“You were about to kill Keith!” Everyone was being way to calm about this. 

“No he wasn’t.” Keith said at the same time Shiro also protested. 

“I saw you hanging him upside down by his ankle and going towards the shaft to drop him down. I also heard arguing and Keith was clearly struggling.” 

“I wasn’t going to drop him down the shaft. The only reason we were in here is because this is where I caught him.” 

“Yeah, Shiro was holding me with his prosthetic. He wouldn’t have let go.” Keith pointed out. 

Now that Ulaz thought about it, Shiro was a ways from the shaft, he would have had to throw Keith into it in order for him to drop down. 

“The reason we were arguing is because this little punk ate the piece of cake I specifically saved.” Shiro crossed his arms and glared at Keith. 

“Your name wasn’t on it.” Keith glared back. 

“You were there when I called it!” 

“Since when has that ever been a rule?” 

“Since Hunk bakes regularly and I wanted a piece of cake you little shit.” 

Ulaz was thoroughly confused now. “I’m sorry, he chased you,” he looked down at Keith who was still clutched in his arms, “because you ate a piece of cake?” 

“Yep. That sounds about right.” Keith nodded.

“And when he caught you, he hung you upside down by your ankle while you hit him and continued to argue with him?” 

“Yes. He was pulling his punches, though,” Shiro clarified. 

“Aren’t you two supposed to be siblings?” Ulaz couldn’t think of being so violent towards his brother and sister. It was unheard of and truly strange. 

“Yeah. Siblings do this kind of stuff all the time.” Shiro said. “We argue, we fight, but we make up. It’s not weird, Ulaz, and it is not indicative of Haggar’s hold over me.” 

Ulaz put Keith down and shook his head. Shiro and Keith must truly have mental health issues if they thought this was how siblings were supposed to be. 

“My sister, brother, and I were never like this with one another. We had our fair share of arguments, yes, but we respected each other.” He smiled sadly, memories of his family coming back into his mind. “Before I took my entrance exam for medical school, they stayed up with me all night, quizzing me and comforting me. I don’t think I would have passed if I hadn’t had their help and support.” 

Lance snorted. “You’re the weird one. Shiro and Keith, I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Mullet, are normal. My siblings and I fought constantly. When I was six they convinced me that I was actually the second Lance, the first one misbehaved and was sold off to gypsies. If I didn’t do what they asked, I’d be sold off to gypsies as well and replaced with another Lance.” 

“That sounds awful!” On second thought, maybe have tumultuous sibling relationships was a human thing. 

Lance shrugged. “It was kind of funny when mama found out about it. She could really throw that flip flop!” He laughed, his eyes getting misty as well. “It got better once my younger two siblings were born. Since I was the true middle child, whenever my older siblings wanted to gang up on my younger ones, they recruited me. And whenever my younger ones wanted to gang up on my older ones, recruited as well. After Paola and Hector were born, I almost never got teased.” 

He smiled sadly and looked down at his shoes. Even though the things he was describing sounded terrible, he still seemed to miss and love them dearly. 

Hunk snorted. “You and your siblings are dysfunctional. My sister and I are more like Ulaz and his siblings. She was the one who taught me how to cook.” He puffed up his chest, looking proud. “When I got into the garrison, she went around to all of my family members and had them write out a recipe and then put it into a cookbook, that way, if I missed any of them, I could make their recipe.” 

“Hunk is right,” Pidge piped up. “Matt and I were super close as siblings. He’s the one who taught me how to code!”

“Ah, so I have your brother to blame for you being such a menace,” Thace snorted. 

Pidge elbowed him affectionately and sniffed, her eyes also shiny with tears. “He’s always been there for me and whenever I went to visit him, he would sneak me extra desserts.” 

“You’re wrong, Lance, Keith, and Shiro are right,” Thace said. 

Ulaz gasped. “Ila is not a menace! He’s very sweet, you know, for an empire fanatic.” 

Thace glared at him. “He’s sweet to you, he was a terror to me growing up. One time he took me to the orchard to pick bursy berries, the ripest ones are always at the top. I get up to the top of the tree without a ladder, no problem, but then after I toss him fistfulls, which he ate, not saving a single one for me, I couldn’t get back down. He told me he was going to go get a ladder. Almost five vargas later, the maid found me up there crying, and Ila was laughing.” Thace crossed his arms and pouted.

“Is this why you’re afraid of heights?” Ulaz asked. Pieces of Thace’s personality were falling into place. 

“You’re afraid of heights?” Lance laughed. 

“You’re afraid of spiders!” Hunk shot back.

Keith and Shiro’s faces paled. “In space,” Shiro said, “that is a valid fear.” 

The mood that had progressively gotten more somber as the children remembered their families was now happier as they teased each other. 

Allura and Coran stood back, observing this interaction thoughtfully. 

“So, which ones were correct?” Allura asked. “It sounds like they were split down the middle on how siblings should interact?” 

Coran smiled, his own eyes misting over. “They were all correct. Having siblings is a strange mix of loathing and love for one another. My own family, we fought so much, but we also loved each other fiercely.” 

Allura put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you miss them. I miss my parents too.” She looked down and bit her lip. “It’s good, though, that we have each other. We have support and can reminisce about the past.” Even as she said it, she knew she didn’t sound convincing. 

Coran put an arm around her shoulders. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. We can support each other.” 

The somber mood, while it had lifted slightly, did not dissipate completely, and as each paladin and member of Voltron went to bed that night, except for Shiro and Thace, they all thought about the families they had left behind.


End file.
